


If Memory Serves

by wisteriawall



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Drabble, F/M, Familial Relationship, Ficlet, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Torture, One Shot, Other, Platonic Relationships, Prequel, Short One Shot, anyways this is peeta’s pov which i’ve never written from before sooooo i tried, wow all those implied things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:28:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisteriawall/pseuds/wisteriawall
Summary: Peeta Mellark recounts his long history with Annie Cresta, who he finds downright terrifying, if not also the kindest person he has ever met.
Relationships: Annie Cresta & Finnick Odair, Annie Cresta & Mags, Annie Cresta & Peeta Mellark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	If Memory Serves

i.  
Peeta Mellark is twelve-years-old when he is first exposed to Annie Cresta and her many quirks. Watching the older girl on screen does something to him. It reminds him that the games are bad, that they hurt people, and that she killed a boy in his class when she had every chance not to. 

That was not technically the first or most poignant memory of the victor. Most importantly of all, she had gone mad with the grief of her district partner’s graphic end. Ripped the eyes out of a girl who was unfairly cruel (even for the games). It scars the young man for life and surely affects many others who aren’t used to seeing that type of savagery displayed by pretty young girls.

She is mad, but not horrible, he decides. She wanted to go home, just like everyone else.

The world was never kind to good people  
…  
so he resolves to never be a piece in their games. 

ii.  
It is the winter of his year of glory when he comes into contact with the mistake of the 70th games. Perhaps now, as a victor himself, he understands the way that she broke. Crumbled like a burnt cookie, falling into a million scattered pieces. She just hadn’t gotten the chance to fall apart in private, having it broadcast to the world instead. It had to be a show of true empathy and emotion, not the insanity he had previously suspected.

She is not a thought that took up much of his time, having only come face to face briefly on his victory tour. Annie is calm, with sea green eyes that were off in a world of their own, bright as the stars. He couldn’t recall the last time he felt as lively as the brunette appears now, giggling and whispering in a foreign language with the old woman to her left (MAGS, that was her name).

He thinks he sees, but is not entirely sure, the great Finnick Odair mouth “I love you” across the room to her.

But what he is certainly sure of, no question about it, is Annie Cresta blushing a deep crimson and smiling like she knows all the great secrets in the world.

No one seeing them could doubt their love, even if one had to look closely. It was a shame that alternatively, everyone could see right through him and Katniss’ faux affairs. 

Annie Cresta was misunderstood, that much he knew.

iii.  
Their cells are across from one another. She smiles at him. Tells him about the stars that they could not see. Sings ancient songs from District Four to pass the time. Listens to horror stories of his childhood. Promises to hold his hand and help them get out of there when she could. Spreads the gossip of her hometown as if she had just been there yesterday. Becomes one of his closest friends.

Neither mention her nakedness, or his bruises.

Annie Cresta was robbed of the kindness of the world. It made him long for the mother he never had.

iv.  
She keeps her promise to hold his hand through the hard times. They live in District Thirteen, and she was the person most diligent about coming to sit with him every day. She updates him on the world, tells him about her new marriage, and tells him that things would soon be okay. Despite the lack of sun to shine in her eyes and the diminishing warmth of her skin tone, she is a ray of light in the cold monotony of their bunker. 

Annie Cresta was good to him, and she did not lie. That was an uncommon set of traits, he’d come to learn.

v.  
The world is calm, but the ocean is not. Peeta arrives on one of his many trips to District Four with the intention of spend time with the Odairs. Annie is a good mother, even when she isn’t always so sure what to do. Then again, nobody else knew either. How did she manage all alone? He admires her for it, watching as she peppers the toddler’s chubby face with kisses, and watching as Ronan giggled and squirmed in delight. Though his natural tan and mop of dark hair are all Annie, he knows she appreciates the distinct eyes of her late husband. 

If someone was to fill the void left by his own maternal figure, it was a funny sight to see the shoes filled by a twenty-five year old woman who he once damn near feared. Annie came to reassure Peeta that the world was not always dark, but that he did not always have to be the sole beacon of light. Reminds him that he could be himself, and that was enough. 

Annie Cresta was something else entirely, he concluded. A whole slew of descriptors:

interesting  
maternal  
fierce  
self sacrificial  
kind  
misunderstood  
beautiful  
trusting  
maybe even downright terrifying

_but never crazy._


End file.
